Some 18 years ago I had stayed at the Marlin for a few nights while vacationing in the Outer Banks (no I will never write it OBX). Back then the rooms were OK and fairly priced. This summer they were nice and fairly priced. The staff was extremely nice and plaisant. It's location near the Red&White and beach accesses make it a very good place to stay when on budget. Let's face it, unless the weather prevents you from going to the beach, what do you use a hotel room for, clean yourself and sleep.

We are CHEAP cheap CHEAP when we travel. That's the only way we GET to travel, so we go for low budget, without all the extras and fluff n stuff.
So this place was perfect for our budget. We wanted to get to Hatteras a day early to recover from the 9 hour ride, and be ready for our rental home the next day.
What we found here, was a little adventure to start our trip the right way.
The room was nice.
YES, the rooms do smell musty. BUT, you have to remember that this is HATTERAS. They get hurricanes and flooding frequently, as they are surrounded by ocean!!!
I've been in a few other motels in Hatteras, and they ALL smell musty.
But after a few minutes, you get used to it, and it's not bad. And I always bring a little candle to mask any smells, anyway. So that works good.

The rooms are simple, plain, and have what you need. The bathroom was pretty nice, actually. I totally wanted to steal their pillows, as they were really really fluffy and firm. I went home after vacation and replaced my pillows, because of this hotel's pillows!
The comforters were nice and thick and cozy, too.

The pool is nice, clean, and the kids enjoyed it.

Out back of the motel, is a canal/bay area, with some chairs. That is where we spent most of our time. The kids fished, crabbed, and I took pics, and my husband caught a flounder! We had a GREAT time behind the motel! (it's on the property)

The service and employees were nice, everything went smoothly, and we'd definately stay there again. (we would have this year, but we brought our dog this time, and there's no pets at this motel, so....we had to try another one....which wasn't NEAR as nice as the Hatteras Marlin!)

Hatteras Marlin Motel far exceeded my expectations for a budget motel. The beds were brand new and incredibly comfortable, the room was clean, and there was decent water pressure in the shower, which is rare for the Outer Banks. Free WiFi was a major plus. I would definitely recommend to those looking to crash before and after off-shore fishing trips.

My friends and I decided to take our girl friend to Hatteras for a relaxing bacholorette party. We were a little nervous about staying here after reading the reviews but it turned out to be a perfect fit for us. (I guess some people are just never happy with what they get and you can't please them...) We had Excellent Service - a very friendly staff. Because of car trouble we didn't make it down to the island until around midnight and nothing was open. But when we called the phone number the manager, Dennis, drove from his house (in his pjs) to let us into a room! I LOVE the chairs on the deck, it was a great place to play cards and just relax at the end of the day. The weather was a little too chilly for swimming at the beach (still in the 70s though - imagine that in October!!) but the motel's pool was located out of the wind so we were able to lounge around in the sunshine and catch up on a lot of reading.

Overall, we had a very enjoyable stay at this motel and met a lot of nice people.